Community recycling, analyzing the pros and cons of various packaging materials, and STEM career exploration are just a few of the core elements of an exciting new Sustainable Packaging Patch offered by Girl Scouts of the USA.

Funding for the program was made possible by a grant from the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) in partnership with the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP). SPE describes the effort as “Positive Plastics Education,” but the patch program exposes participants to packaging materials beyond plastic.

Girls Scouts learn about a variety of packaging types including glass, metals, paper, and biopolymers and, of course, plastics. Importantly, they learn the WHY of packaging. Activities range from packaging scavenger hunts (“Find 5 different types of packaging in your home or local store.”) to food packaging experiments to lessons in reading recycling labels. The concept of a circular economy is also introduced. All are scaled to age-appropriate levels designed to appeal to Girl Scouts in grades K-12.

Additionally, the activity guides accompanying the patch program for older girls encourage exploring graphics communications education (via lists of universities offering print/packaging degrees) and career pathways. Just as the entertainment software industry has highlighted video gaming as a means to expose kids to “cool” careers in software engineering, SPE and IoPP hope the Girl Scouts patch program will spark an interest in print/packaging careers for young women.

So far, troops in North East Texas, Greater Chicago, Northwest Indiana, and Greater Tampa have access to the program. Girls Scouts of the USA hopes that 2,000 girls will have the chance to earn the patch in 2024.

SPE and IoPP are providing a direct contact for parents, schools, or Girl Scout leaders who wish to bring the Sustainable Packaging Patch program to local troops. Interested parties are welcome to contact Mark Richardson at mrichardson@4spe.org for more information.